Faster Than My Bullet
by LittleBree19
Summary: An unexpected school shooting is what makes Alvin and Brittany realize how much they need each other.


**Title:** Faster Than My Bullet

**Disclaimer:** I don't own AATC, or the title, which is from the awesome (and equally creepy) song by Foster the People, Pumped Up Kicks.

**Characters/Pairings:** Alvittany

**Warning:** This story does center around a school shooting, if that wasn't already obvious enough. If this is upsetting for you I suggest you step away and find another story to read instead. The rating may change in future chapters, I'm not sure yet.

**A/N:** Hi everyone! *waves* This is my first ever story on here... I hope you guys like it. I wanted to try something different from what I've seen so far in the chipmunk archive. Just so I know people are reading, I'd like at least five reviews before I post the next chapter.

* * *

It's a normal Monday morning whenever Brittany Miller's world comes crashing down.

She's woken up from the sound of her sister, Eleanor, poking her side. Not very gently either. "Honestly, Brittany," she barely hears her sister grumble irritably, "you beg me to wake you up for school so you'll have enough time to get ready but you never want to wake up when I do." She waits for a response and lets out a huff of annoyance when she receives nothing. "You're impossible!"

"Okay, okay. I'm awake." Brittany snaps, sitting up and rubbing at her eyes. If she didn't have to take forever trying to perfect her outfit and makeup every morning, she wouldn't wake up at 5AM every morning.

Downstairs Miss Miller is going on about how she'll be going shopping for the girls since a school dance is coming up. "I know just what to get all three of you," she remarks, slathering jam on her piece of toast. "You'll be the prettiest girls at the dance!"

Brittany wasn't really listening, she usually tuned her mother out, but the words _shopping_ and _dance_ register in her brain and when she realizes it's Miss Miller saying those things she sits up in surprise. "No!" she cries out without really thinking. "Miss Miller, I wanted to go shopping for my dress myself!"

Across from the table, Jeanette gives her a look. "Brittany," she says gently, but in that tone of voice that means _stop talking_._  
_

Miss Miller doesn't seem to notice. "Oh, don't worry about it, dear. Like I said, I know just what to get all three of you."

"Fat chance," Brittany blurts out. She grimaces, thinking back to the time Miss Miller went shopping and bought her a green dress, of all the colors.

"Now just what does that mean?" Miss Miller says, managing to look hurt through a mouthful of toast.

Eleanor gives her a swift kick from under the table. Brittany jumps in surprise and once she's regained the feeling in her leg, kicks her right back. "Oh, it doesn't mean anything, anything at all. You know how I'm not a morning person." She smiles over at Miss Miller and that seems to be good enough for her. Once she looks away Brittany glares over at Eleanor.

Already her morning has begun to kick off with a bad start. She was so excited for the dance, mainly because the teacher has given her sisters and the chipmunks permission to perform for the dance. But another thing is that they would be able to take a date with them. They've done it in the past, sure, but something about the way it was explained in the letters sent home seemed so official, so mature, so grown up. She's no longer eight years old. She's ten now, and in Brittany's eyes, double digits means she's a real woman.

Another reason she's been excited is because she knows her best friend, Alvin Seville, hasn't asked anyone yet. She has a gut feeling that he's going to ask her, he's just waiting for the right day to do it most likely. She hopes.

Once she's finished with her breakfast she heads into the bathroom, ready to start her morning routine. After she has washed her face three times, brushed through her hair precisely one hundred times just like she does each night before Miss Miller tucks her into bed, she changes into her signature pink outfit and begins to put on her makeup. Not too much, of course, or else Miss Miller would throw a fit. Just enough to make it noticeable is fine with her for now.

Brittany finishes with that and is about ready to go back downstairs when she's met with the sound of a fist banging on the door.

"Come on, you've been in there forever! I've got to _go_!" Eleanor practically yells, sounding irritated.

"You can wait a few more minutes." Brittany calls back, waving a dismissive hand towards the door. She's just getting ready to pack up her makeup bag when there's a louder bang on the door. It startles her, causing her to drop the powder she had in her hands. The powder flies around the room in a flurry, little brown waves of it floating in the air, but the biggest target that it lands on is her outfit.

The case holding the expensive powder breaks, sending what little was left of it all over the floor. She gasps before flinging the door open. "Look what you did!" Brittany screams to a now surprised Eleanor, her hands balled up into fists at her sides.

"I didn't mean -" Eleanor tries, but Brittany isn't having it.

"Look at it! Not only is the bathroom dirty, but my outfit is ruined! This probably won't all come out!" Brittany stamps her foot on the ground in the true style of a fussy three year old who hasn't had their daily nap yet.

"Listen, Brittany..."

"No, I'm talking now! You're so going to pay for that, I hope you know. I spent all of my allowance on that powder!"

"I'm not paying for it! You dropped the stupid powder, I just wanted to use the bathroom!" Eleanor fires back, losing her patience. Just because Brittany isn't a morning person doesn't mean that she's going to put up with it.

"Then why didn't you use Miss Miller's bathroom?" Brittany glowers at her, hands on her hips.

"Because it's called _our_ bathroom for a reason! We're supposed to share. And you never do."

Just as Brittany opens her mouth to shoot back a response, Jeanette appears from behind Eleanor, a worried look on her face. In her hands is a familiar crumpled blue and white outfit. Brittany brought her hands to her cheeks in horror, recognizing the ruined clothes as her cheerleading outfit.

"What did you do!" she screeches, pushing past Eleanor and cradling the uniform in her hands as if it's a broken newborn baby.

"I didn't... I didn't mean to do it!" Jeanette insists nervously, wringing her hands with eyes even wider than Brittany's.

"It's ruined thanks to you," Brittany shoots her the meanest glare she can muster. She examines what had been her cheerleading uniform and sees purple stains all over it. There are holes all over the shirt and skirt, and a few rips and tears here and there. "How did you do this? _Why_ did you do this?"

Jeanette's lower lip trembles. She's never been the best person to be put under pressure, and she absolutely hates being yelled at. "It was an accident!" she says, her words pouring out in a quick jumbled mess. "It... it was just... it was there on the counter when I was working on my Science project, and the test tube I had fell out of my hands when I tripped and it landed on the outfit and apparently it doesn't react well with fabric!"

"I need this uniform, Jeanette! I need this for practice tomorrow." Brittany looks down at the clothes in her hands before throwing it on the floor and stomping on it. "You've ruined everything! Did you ever think that I would need this? Did you? Of course not, because you never think! Not unless it has something to do with something silly and useless like homework." She says _homework_ the same way she would say _Alvin's sweaty gym socks._

That's all that it takes. Tears well up in Jeanette's eyes. "I... I didn't mean to do it, I swear!" she says again, stumbling over her words.

Before Brittany can snap off another response Eleanor steps in. "Don't you think you're being a little too harsh?" she says to Brittany, resting a comforting hand on Jeanette's shoulder. "It was an accident, it's not that big of a deal."

Apparently that's the wrong thing to say. "An accident?" Brittany repeats. She looks as if she's a volcano ready to erupt. "Not a big deal, huh! Would it not be a big deal if I popped one of your precious soccer balls, Eleanor? Would it not be a big deal if I lost one of Jeanette's boring books? I bet you all of my allowance that you guys would make it a big deal, so don't tell me anything!"

"Um, actually, you've done both of those things before already." Eleanor points out.

Brittany opens her mouth to say something but stops herself. She looks down at the ruined uniform in her arms and looks back over at Jeanette, who's still fighting back the tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Jean." she says, her expression noticeably softening. "I didn't mean to yell at you. I'll see if our coach will order me a new one, okay?" She looks over at Eleanor, putting her hands on her hips. "You owe me some new powder and since you ruined my outfit you need to find me a another one."

"Okay," Eleanor says without a fight, surprising Brittany, but it's not like she's complaining about it.

"I'll help you find one!" Jeanette offers, all signs of tears disappearing. She follows Eleanor over to Brittany's huge closet.

She's just about to go downstairs to ask Miss Miller if maybe she can fix her damaged uniform when a loud crash stops her in her tracks. She slowly turns around, afraid of what she'll see, and gasps in horror once she does. Eleanor and Jeanette are both laying in a pile of clothes, _Brittany's_ clothes, with apologetic smiles on their faces.

"We went to reach for an outfit and everything fell." Jeanette explains to a dumbfounded Brittany.

"Yeah, we're really sorry." Eleanor says before she starts to giggle. "But you've got to admit... it's pretty funny, huh?"

This sets Brittany over the edge again. "No, it's not funny!" she hisses, causing them to both look surprised. "I spent forever organizing that closet! Everything was in place, where it needed to be, and now my clothes are probably all wrinkled." Without really thinking about it, she blurts out, "Why don't you two just stay out of my life if you're just going to screw up everything you touch?"

"It was an accident." Eleanor frowns. She was expecting Brittany to laugh it off.

"I don't care." Brittany stomps over to the closet so she can pick up another outfit. She gives them one last mean look and grabs her backpack. "Just stay out of my life, okay? I'm done putting up with you guys."

She leaves the room so she doesn't have to look at their hurt expressions for another second.

* * *

As she and her sisters walking down the sidewalk for school with the chipmunks, Brittany stays unusually quiet. She's still moping over her terrible morning, but Eleanor and Jeanette seem to have gotten over it. She kicks a nearby rock at the sight of Jeanette laughing at a joke Simon says which probably wasn't funny at all. Do they think she's just going to get over it in a few hours like she normally does? No way. She's determined to keep this up until they apologize.

"Hey, Britt?" Alvin says, causing her to look up from her shoes.

She perks up almost immediately. Finally, someone notices that there's something wrong with her! "Yes, Alvin? What is it?"

"I have a question to ask you." Those words cause her to stop walking. She tries not to show off how eager she suddenly is.

"Um, yeah?" Brittany knows this is the moment where he's going to ask her to the dance, she just _knows _it. She knew that he would all along!

"Why aren't you doing anything about that bug in your hair?" Alvin asks, cocking his head to the side.

"Bug?" Brittany says, and it takes about two seconds for his words to actually register in her brain and she begins to jump around frantically. "Oh my gosh, get it out, get it out, get it out! Get it out right -" She slowly begins to stop hopping around when she sees their siblings give her a weird look. She realizes that there is no bug and lets out a growl before walking ahead of him again.

"Ha! You should of seen your face!" Alvin says, pointing a finger at her, even though it really wasn't _that_ funny.

"You're a jerk." she hisses, feeling even more upset than she was before. "And you're not funny, either."

Alvin catches up beside her, that stupid smirk on his face. "Aw, Britt, I was just messing with you. I really _do_ have a question to ask you."

"Say it, then." This time Brittany doesn't allow herself to get her hopes up. Instead she keeps on walking, a sour look on her face.

She's too busy pouting to notice just how nervous Alvin suddenly gets. "Um, well..." He doesn't say anything after that.

"What?" Brittany snipes, growing even _more_ annoyed. If he was going to pull another joke he might as well hurry up before they were late for school.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to go to the dance with me. Maybe, if you wanted to." Alvin says it so fast that Brittany almost doesn't quite catch what he says.

She stops walking again, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She knew it, she knew it. Her previous frustrations begin to ebb away as she nods. "Okay," she says, the smile growing even wider at that.

"Okay?" Alvin repeats, before regaining his composure and smiling back at her. "I mean... yeah, okay."

Brittany giggles, stepping back so that she's walking beside him.

Her morning suddenly gets a lot better.

* * *

She's in the empty gym when it happens.

Brittany has just gotten done informing her cheerleading coach about the ruined uniform. At first her coach began to scold her, but Brittany really didn't mind all that much. Thoughts of going to the dance with Alvin kept coming back to her, putting a smile on her face. It was as if she was in a permanent good mood for the rest of the day.

The coach sends her to the gym to find a form to fill out so she can get Miss Miller to order her a new one. The gym is big and quiet, her shoes squeak as she walks across it. Her hand reaches down to grab the paper when the door swings open and she sees Robbie Dean, an older boy who is maybe around fourteen.

"Hi, Brittany." he drawls, stepping closer.

"What are you doing here?" Brittany asks, reaching down to pick up the form she's dropped. "No one has gym this hour."

"I'm here to teach you a lesson. A lesson long overdue." Robbie explains casually. She's painfully aware of how he keeps stepping closer towards her.

Brittany frowns, staring at him in confusion. She doesn't like the look he's giving her. "What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean."

He's getting closer and she's getting even more nervous. She grips the paper in her hands tightly and unconsciously begins to back away. "I... I don't understand." It suddenly feels very hot in the gym. It feels like the walls are caving in on her and she has a strong urge to turn around and run. She doesn't know why, she just knows she wants him to stop looking at her like that.

"Don't play dumb, Brittany." He says her name like it's acid burning on his tongue. She flinches. He continues without missing a beat. "You think your shit doesn't stink, don't you? You think you're the prettiest girl at school, and don't give me that look, because I've heard you say it plenty of times. You think that you're all high and mighty, better than everyone else."

She shakes her head. "I don't think -" she tries to say, but that only seems to get him angry. Very angry.

"Don't!" Robbie yells so loud that she literally cowers back and snaps her mouth shut. He grips his head in his hands, whispering words she can't make out. Once he picks his head back up he smiles at her. It's not a comforting smile. "Didn't your parents ever teach you that it's not polite to interrupt someone when they're talking? I didn't ask you to talk, did I?"

Brittany stares at him. For the first time she's at a loss for words. She doesn't understand what's going on, she just wants him to leave.

"Now let me finish or else we'll do this quickly." Robbie says. His hand twitches towards his pants pocket.

She wants to ask him what they would be doing but it feels like she's swallowed her tongue.

"I decided last week that I would end everyone's suffering." he continues, beginning to pace back and forth. She holds back a breath of relief because that means he's stopped walking towards her. "Everyone in this school that thinks they're so much better than the people they pick on constantly. You know what those people are, Brittany?" He waits for her to answer and when she doesn't he keeps talking. "They're bullies. You're a bully."

Before she can say anything he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a black shiny object. She thinks her heart actually stops for a second.

"Robbie, please," Brittany isn't one to beg but she knows what that black shiny object is and she knows what it does.

"I decided to make you the first one, Brittany. You're the youngest one that will be getting a lesson today." Robbie doesn't seem to hear her. He starts walking towards her again. "Look at you. Only ten and you're already turning out to be the biggest bitch around here."

She can't control the hot tears that begin to fall down her cheeks. She tries to back up again but only bumps into the table that has all of the forms sitting on it. "I swear, I don't bully anyone, I really don't!" she says, moving past the table. She tries backing up even more but only feels herself meet with the wall. She looks past him and feels like screaming because the door looks so far away now.

"I hate liars, Brittany." He walks towards her and once he's close enough she does what her instincts tell her to do: she kicks him as hard as she can in the shin before running off as fast as she can. The kick seems to momentarily stall him because he's hopping around, yelling out curse words Miss Miller would never let her say.

She glances at the door but it's much too far away. She's in too much of a panic to think clearly so she runs towards the nearest door behind her, the one that leads into the supply closet. She shuts it and turns the lock, dashing under a table. She practically curls up in a ball, hugging her knees close to her. She tries to gain control of her thoughts but she can't, the only thing she can think of is the sound of approaching footsteps.

"You shouldn't have done that," Robbie's voice calls out tauntingly. He doesn't sound angry anymore. He sounds... eager, almost.

Brittany squeezes her eyes shut and does something she's never done before. She begins to pray.

_Please,_ she thinks, trying to use all of her concentration but it's hard with the loud banging on the door, _whoever is up there, please help me._

She's dimly aware of Robbie breaking the door down. She's shaking now and it takes everything in her not to burst into tears, but she knows she has to try and be quiet if she wants to make it out of the gym alive. _Help me,_ she thinks again.

The scream that's been threatening to escape finally does when the table she was hiding under is flung across the room. Brittany looks up into the startlingly crazed eyes of Robbie Dean and loses it. She's never sobbed at school, but now she can't stop the noises that are coming from her. She wants to go home so desperately that it hurts. She thinks back to the things she yelled at Eleanor and Jeanette and cries harder. What she would give to have them with her now.

She tries to think if she's done anything wrong to have this happen to her. Is it because she didn't want Miss Miller to go dress shopping for her? Because she was too harsh on her sisters? Whatever it is, she's sorry for it. She'll wear whatever dress Miss Miller picks out for her, green or not. She'll apologize to her sisters and never yell at them again. She'll do anything. Anything to get her out of that gym.

Robbie watches her, amused. He raises the gun and points it in her direction.

"No!" Brittany pleads, shaking her head wildly. "No, no, no! Please don't!"

"You deserve this." he says softly.

The next thing that she hears is an earsplitting bang before everything goes black.


End file.
